Joe Heap

Having been born in Bradford and studied in Scotland, Joe Heap currently lives in London with his girlfriend, young son and cat. In 2004, he won the Foyle Young Poet award, and his poetry has been published in several journals. Joe has worked as a subtitler for BBC News, a face painter at a safari park and a removal man for a dental convention.

The Rules of Seeing follows Nova, an interpreter for the Metropolitan police, has been blind from birth. When she undergoes surgery to restore her sight her journey is just beginning – she now has to face a world in full colour for the first time. Kate, a successful architect and wife to Tony, is in hospital after a blow to the head. There, she meets Nova and what starts as a beautiful friendship soon turns into something more.

Nuanced and full of emotion, The Rules of Seeing poignantly explores the realities and tensions of a woman seeing the world for the first time – the highs and lows, the good and bad. A truly remarkable debut that really will make you see the world in a different way.